They Still Know
by musicnlyrics
Summary: Even after so many years, Booth and Brennan still know. Now, Parker knows too. Note: An epilogue of sorts: A companion piece to They Both Knew. It is recommended that you read that first.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Bones, save for the sweet nothings that float around in my head.**

**A/N: Please be mindful of the fact that this is a companion piece to **_**They Both Knew.**_** I guarantee that you will be confused if you haven't already read that.**

**Also - please refer to my profile page about distribution of any of my works to communities and forums. Thanks :]**

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><p><em>You're the gambler. You believed in giving this a chance. Giving us a chance. When you talk to older couples who have been in love for 30, or 40, or 50 years, it's always the guy who says, "I knew." You knew, right from the beginning. You're that guy. You knew. You knew, and even now, you know. While I still don't believe in fate, I knew, too.<em>

_Will you marry me, Booth?_

"Whaddya think, Buddy?" Booth asked his son, who was holding the letter Bones had left for him so many years ago. _Seventeen years, almost to the day,_ Booth thought.

Parker looked up from the sheet of paper, once so crisp and stiff, now flimsy and worn, but words no less powerful than before. He could see in his father's eyes the love for the woman who had written it, the woman he had come to love as a mother. Parker knew he was lucky to have Bones in his life, just as his dad was lucky to have her in his.

Seeing a smile creep over Parker's face, Booth didn't have to hear words to know what his son thought of Bones' proposal to him. Booth had been adamant, right from the beginning, that in no way did _he _propose to _her_. Credit given where credit is due, the unlikely couple got married because she asked him, not the other way around, although he never truly told Parker how. He knew that something like that had to be shared at a specific moment in time for it to truly stick with him.

The Booth men fell silent, both taking in the wonder that was Bones. A woman who was so unsure of herself and her own compassion, and did not (to the day) realize how wonderfully giving and loving she was. Both Booths knew that she often looked into the mirror with a critical eye when she thought no one was around to see her. Booth and Parker knew that she was, in reality, looking inward rather than outward. To see that sharp, critical look pass over her features broke both boys' hearts just a little more each time, for the simple reason of her not knowing her own worth.

The sound of the garage door closing alerted the men to Bones' arrival. Booth looked at the clock, and realized that he and Parker had been sitting and thinking for forty-five minutes. _How had that much time slipped by? _Booth asked himself. He considered it a stroke of luck that he and Parker had thought ahead and made dinner early, so as not to be caught off guard and chastised by the stern faces of hungry women.

The thought made Booth smile. Bones had taken their daughter, Amelia Christine Booth, shopping for a new wardrobe. About to start her junior year of high school, Amelia was eager to stay with her mother the author, even when it earned her a few glances from her classmates, though none of them said anything after they got a glance at her brother, father, and grandfather. Never let it be said that Amelia's family wasn't scary, even her mom.

Though it was Saturday, the Booth women had braved the traffic and headed with the resident artist at the Jeffersonian to shop. Booth and Parker had said goodbye to the women, and began doing manly things around the house, such as tinkering with an old car they were restoring, working around the yard, and replacing a light bulb in the master bathroom. They were soon done, however, and Parker asked the question he'd been asking for years. _"How did you and Bones get engaged?"_

Booth had always spun him a different tale, never revealing whether they were true or not. Most often, he would end his story with, "And then I woke up," or "I snapped out of that day dream real quickly." Some stories were so wildly ridiculous that Parker knew they were false, and others sounded so much like what Bones would do, he was sure it would finally be the truth that he was getting.

Now, however, he knew why his dad never really let the truth be known. He knew that, in order for him to truly understand what was important, he needed to be in a particular area of his life, and needed to be able to appreciate what his dad had done for Bones, and vice versa. Without the other, and without everything that had happened between them, Parker knew that they would not be in the same place. Their lives would have taken minor shifts in direction, and they would not have been in love as they were.

Booth could see that Parker truly understood. He was vaguely aware of hearing Amelia running up the stairs, and Bones walking into the kitchen where she knew she would find her men.

Seeing Booth and Parker sitting at the table, her letter to Booth in Parker's hands, all she could do was smile.

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><p><strong>AN: Short and sweet, but sometimes those are the best ones. **

**I've found that it is not unacceptable to ask for reviews. Reviews help the author to know what is both right and wrong about their stories. It is because of this reason that I would love to hear what you have to say. I will ask a favor, though: should your opinion (because that is essentially what a review is) be negative, I would only ask that you phrase it in such a way that you are not disrespectful. I would hope that you would be respectful anyway, but unfortunately, respect is something not often remembered in today's society. If you absolutely feel the need to just lay it all bare, feel free to PM me. Please be aware of what you write in a review, as it is there for the world to see. Also, remember that I reserve the right to delete any review I deem inappropriate.**

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